Another Jobs Lull

The labor participation rate falls to its lowest level since 1978.

Maybe we should call this the Michael Corleone economy: Just when you think it might be accelerating, it drags you back down to the weakest expansion in modern history.

That's the story of Friday's disappointing jobs report for August, which showed a still mediocre pace of job creation. A pair of blockbuster Institute for Supply Management reports earlier in the week had led to renewed optimism that the long-promised breakout to 3%...